Finance Capital and the State: An Analysis of Ownership and Control of Large Corporations in an East Asian Newly Industrializing Country*

Abstract

This article examines the nature of ownership and control of the top South Korean corporations. It addresses the strategic question of the separation of ownership from control, family, and institutional forms of stock ownership, and whether the capitalist class has gained control of finance capital. These issues are examined within a Marxist theoretical framework so as to understand the transformation of the class structure of South Korea, including changes in the structure of the capitalist class and the role of the state in this process. The article provides an assessment of the nature and degree of control of the state by finance capital and identifies the linkages between the largest corporations and banks through the application of network analysis in the South Korean context.